After a few solitary days of thinking in the midst of trying to let his telepathy lie dormant and unused—which was a job in and of itself—he decided that he had had enough and wanted to see Delilah.
He had expected Dr. Crangler to remind him of what he already knew—namely, that his once-normally allotted times with Delilah would be greatly discouraged at the very least until later on in the pregnancy when things were more stable—but the crippling aloneness that led him to make the suggestion of him fathering the child in the first place had returned. Now that he wasn’t spending time in mental concentration as before, it felt like his loneliness had returned a hundred fold. Besides, if he wasn’t going to be allowed to see the soon to be mother of his child for a while, what would it matter if he started the process of wearing the doctor down now? Imagine his surprise when he had barely finished his first request and Dr. Crangler readily agreed.
“But my advice is that you be very careful.” The doctor counseled somberly, “Lieutenant Dan has been given direct orders to disable you if you even appear to pose a threat.”
“Disable? If I pose a threat! What’s going on?” he asked.
The doctor gave the same ‘it’s out of my hands’ gesture, before answering, “I’m sure you know…” he began, with a knowing look.
“Actually,” Geoffrey interrupted “I don’t know. After what I did to you, I’ve been trying not to use…” he gestured toward his head at an angle that he thought the room’s camera might not pick up.
“Really?” the doctor seemed skeptical.
“Really.”
“Well, these next few months will be touch and go for us as far as the pregnancy is involved. A woman’s body is very intricate as far as impregnation is concerned. Any kind of trauma, including emotional, can greatly complicate or even thwart things altogether.”
“I understand, Doctor,” Geoffrey answered “but does somebody think I’m going to hit her or something?”
Dr. Crangler’s gaze steadied in thought, choosing his words carefully. “Delilah’s been given some special medication, to help things along. It’s very good and poses little to no risk, but its one major side effect is that it makes the patient…moody.” Geoffrey didn’t quite know what to make of what Dr. Crangler was trying to tell him, and though he could’ve easily listened in on his thoughts, he was genuinely trying to refrain from that until he could be sure he wouldn’t cause more damage than it was worth.
“Would you mind doing me a special favor, Doctor? Let me spend some time with Delilah and see what was going on. If you do that for me I promise to be on my best behavior.” Geoffrey gestured with his hand as if he were crossing his heart. “I’ll be very careful to not pose a threat.”
Geoffrey hadn’t been in Delilah’s room for ten seconds before he was given an example of the ‘moodiness’ the doctor had cryptically alluded to. When he walked in, Delilah was sitting on the edge of her bed staring at Lieutenant Dan, who was seated stoically in the same little foldable chair and in the same position as always, but when she saw Geoffrey, she leapt up and rushed to him, burying her face in his chest and sobbing pitifully.
After a short time of this, she shoved him away and shouted, “Where have you been?” before again burying her face in his chest and sobbing again. Geoffrey held her and rubbed her back cautiously. He hazarded a glance toward Dr. Crangler and was answered with a raised eyebrow and a facial expression that said clearly, ‘this is what I warned you of.’ If there was ever a time when Geoffrey felt he needed his mind reading powers, it was now. He didn’t know what to say or do, so he wisely said nothing, and continued to hold Delilah while gently rubbing her back.
Fortunately, after several long minutes, she calmed down, and the two of them sat on her bed. Lieutenant Dan looked on like a massive, uniformed stone gargoyle, and Geoffrey tried to make sure that Delilah remained distracted from him as much as possible. Neither spoke for a few moments, and it was she who eventually broke the silence. “I don’t know what’s going on with me, Geoffrey. I feel so, I don’t know, out of whack.” She glared at Dr. Crangler, then at Lieutenant Dan. “I’m sure it’s the shit they’ve been giving me.” Geoffrey saw that things were not progressing in a healthy direction by the way Delilah’s face was becoming more distorted the more she thought about the ‘shit’ that had been administered to her. Still not sure what to say, if anything at all, Geoffrey just pulled Delilah back into his arms and held her. Dr. Crangler eventually left the room, but not without giving Geoffrey a quick nod to remain cautious. Now, only Delilah, Geoffrey, and Lieutenant Dan were left in the room. Seeing that Delilah was unwilling to remain calm with him so close, Geoffrey asked the lieutenant general if he would kindly move to a corner of the room further away, and was answered with a simple head shake. Geoffrey would’ve tried again, but he knew the extra effort would be futile. The lieutenant general would not be worn down like Dr. Crangler. If he was willing to let the most important woman in the world at the moment piss herself in the back of a cargo truck before he would disobey a direct order, then certainly he wouldn’t move an inch now to disobey one.
Instead, Geoffrey led Delilah to the other side of the bed where they sat down with their backs to the general. This seemed to work well for her. “How ‘bout we get you cleaned up?” He said, once they were seated, “You know, get that pretty hair of yours done up nicely…not that you need it of course, you’re absolutely gorgeous right now.” He added quickly, seeing Delilah’s head start back and her eyebrows raise in mock offense. After which, her head returned to its former position and her expression smoothed out, much to Geoffrey’s relief. She chuckled lightly before laughing outright.
“No, you’re right.” She said, with genuine mirth, “I do need something done with this.” She worried her hair in intimation. Without warning, silent tears began to roll down her cheeks, even though a smile was still on her lips.
“Please, Delilah, I didn’t mean it. Really.” Geoffrey answered, growing more confused and alarmed.
“No, no. It’s not that. Like I said, I’m just not feeling like myself. I don’t even know why I’m crying. Really. It’s that…that…”
“Okay, okay.” Geoffrey interrupted quickly, since any thought of ‘that shit’ on Delilah’s part would certainly mean anti-progress. “Well, would you like a fresh styling?” Delilah made a face, as if thinking the offer over and it didn’t sound too appealing. “How about a fresh style and a facial?” Geoffrey asked and was met with the same playfully bored expression. “How about a fresh styling, and a facial, and a foot rub?”
“Now you’re talking.” Was the jovial reply.
“Well, it might take a little doing, you know,” Geoffrey gestured with his head “with King Kangaroo and all over there.” Delilah’s smile widened even more. “But we’ll see what we can do.”
He did ‘see what he could do’, for the rest of the day, in fact, while trying not to let Lieutenant Dan’s bulky presence haunt his fellow patient. For the better part of the day at least every other day, he and Delilah were together, but, though their initial meeting had been partially his doing, the current arrangement was all thanks to Delilah. She caused such a fuss for so many days, that to not give her what she wanted was deemed more dangerous to the fetus developing within her by Dr. Crangler’s superiors, than the alternative.
As the months passed, things continued on a more or less even keel. Delilah’s belly began to bulge noticeably with her growing unborn and Dr. Crangler and his staff’s testing and caretaking was as faithful and frequent as ever in an effort to make sure the mother-to-be was as healthy and without defect as absolutely possible. As always, Lieutenant Dan was unnervingly present at his post. More than once, Delilah thought to demand a female guard over the brutish looking lieutenant general (since it was obvious that the powers that be would not allow her to go about her business without some kind of imposing figure always inhabiting her room), but she never put words to the demand. Besides, it would’ve never been al
lowed, and for the same reason that it had never been articulated. Delilah was the one and only female on the face of the planet not infected with The Virus. No other female would ever be allowed to be in close proximity of her as she could possibly be infected. There were, in fact, no females even allowed on the entire underground complex. Now, it had already been demonstrated that The Virus changed so radically once it found a host that it could’ve only been spread from the initial infected fragment, not from person to person, which was precisely why Delilah’s newborn’s blood could possibly be used as a cure. But, as can only be expected, no one was willing to take that chance, anyway.
Chapter 30
Delilah was in her eighth month of pregnancy now and the world outside was still raging and otherwise continuing its decline into complete anarchy and decay. Those who didn’t succumb to the depression of losing so many loved ones to The Virus and committed suicide (which was at an all-time high), burned, pillaged, maimed, and even killed, but still found no reprieve for their anger and hopelessness. Not even the military complex was immune to the chaos. It was so well hidden and bordered by a doubly reinforced and foliage overgrowth that made it difficult to tell that anything was there at all, that it hadn’t been stormed yet by the raging masses. However, it wasn’t so well hidden that it wasn’t stumbled upon by an unfortunate few. In a completely unprecedented move, American civilians were gunned down on American soil for wandering too near the base, then their bodies were carried far away. As unbelievable as it was, such a move had been authorized by the president of the United States, but anyone witnessing the chaos that currently encompassed the globe would’ve understood why such a drastic move was absolutely necessary.
Had the general public (or what was left of it) discovered that a government installation lay beyond the huge, vine covered embankments outside the city’s limits, the angry masses would’ve certainly fallen against its formidable walls until they stormed it like they had all the other government buildings. Unfortunately, it could not be revealed that that hope even existed as desperate people of all shapes and sizes, family and friends of those now pregnant and yet to perish, would storm the base with equal rapidity, clamoring to secure a cure for their loved ones, even though it was not yet time. The result would be the same; destruction and chaos and the ruin of the world’s only possible savior.
Inside the complex, and especially in the underground facility, tensions were high and nerves were stretched to their limit. Besides Delilah’s highly-fluctuating mood swings, which were already elevated to maddening proportions by her pregnancy, and then furthered by the medicine administered to aid that pregnancy, things had progressed without any major complications. She was in her 33rd week, three weeks before the baby boy was to be induced into this world. Doctor Crangler wanted to ensure ‘fetal viability’ so that they would have a healthy baby and a better chance of survival, but then it all changed. She had been moved to a larger room where a small army of special machines could monitor everything from her vital signs, to her blood pressure, to her brain waves, to the humidity of the environment, in an effort to make sure everything was perfect for the impending birth. She had demanded, with undeniable fervor, that Geoffrey be there every day, and so a separate bed had been set for him for that purpose. It was highly unorthodox to have him in the room with her, but with it being so late in the game and the home team so close to the winning goal, everyone wanted to make sure Delilah was as satisfied as she could be. No one could tolerate another of her outbursts, but more importantly, everyone needed her vitals to remain within bounds and not complicate things.
It was mid-day outside the underground facility, and inside, Delilah was sitting nearly upright in a special bed that had been built and fabricated especially for her. It was spacious, lined with ultra-thick Temper material, and completely mechanical. It moved in six sections that could all be adjusted to any degree imaginable. It was more comfortable and luxurious that anything Delilah had experienced, even in her previous life. The Temper material was even lined with special energized nylon strips so the bed itself could be made warm at the touch of a button. Delilah was playing with one of the control units just now. Besides Geoffrey, Dr. Crangler, and Lieutenant Dan (of course), were also in the room. Geoffrey was in a plush chair beside Delilah’s mega modern bed. She insisted that it calmed her to have him near, so the chair had been set up so he could be within arm’s reach any time she wanted. He was within arm’s reach now, sleeping soundly. His head was strewn back on a cushion and a faint snore was coming from his partially opened mouth.
Though he appeared to be enjoying pleasant dreams, he certainly was not. In his slumbering mind, he was on a strange planet, looking at the same grotesquely distorted figures, that he had absentmindedly sketched on his Styrofoam food tray many months ago. For some reason, he’d been having this same dream ever since he started laboring to not use his telepathy. It was as if not releasing his mounting abilities was causing them to build up inside him and this was the result. The dream was always varying in clarity, much more vague at first, to the point that he could only make out shadows of deformed images, but it became clearer with every passing dream. Now, he could see the aliens clearly. As he continued to stifle his telepathy as best he could, certain other things about the dreams became clearer as well. Soon, he knew that he was on a very different planet than Earth and surrounded by a different stratum of beings than the ones on Earth. He also knew that he wasn’t moving. He was always in the same place, but that place was never well defined. It was like he was everywhere and nowhere on the planet at once. How he knew all this was beyond his ability to describe. He knew it, and that was that. As this strange reoccurring dream clearer, he began to hear voices, a trillion voices, all in unison, but also not voices, not even sounds, rather, a being. The being—whatever it was—was not talking to him, but infusing him with knowledge, common knowledge of some sort, but nothing he could remember once he awoke because it was too foreign to him. He thought little of it: The last two years of his life had been filled with so many strange things that an unusual dream just didn’t stand out much. This particular time, it was different.
He woke up with a start and looked around; everyone was there. He gestured to Dr. Crangler, who, at the moment, was administering a final dose of ‘that shit’ to Delilah. The doctor finished up, ungloved his hands, and came over to see what the problem was.
“We need to talk.” Geoffrey whispered, which was completely ineffective. The room was deathly quiet and completely soundproof besides, so his low whisper resonated clearly to everyone in the room. It didn’t matter, this was important, as he animatedly assured the doctor when he answered that he was too busy at the moment for a private conversation.
“Geoffrey, I have more tests to…”
“This can’t wait.” Geoffrey’s voice rose, even though he was trying desperately to remain calm. The doctor didn’t know it just yet but Geoffrey had just realized that his dreams were not dreams at all, but something akin to out of body experiences, where he would end up on the alien planet from which The Virus had been sent. The ‘knowledge’ he was receiving, though it was no good to him since he couldn’t decipher it yet, was the common knowledge being constantly broadcast to the central alien intelligence’s varying housings, like one of the ones the doctor had been working on for some time. It was a major breakthrough, but not one he was willing to discuss with anyone other than the doctor just yet. Of course, if he had just said this, the doctor would’ve immediately asked Lieutenant Dan to leave the room, or more likely, he would’ve immediately whisked Geoffrey off somewhere they could talk, but Geoffrey didn’t elaborate because he didn’t want Lieutenant Dan to hear. Dr. Crangler had already warned him of what would happen to him if his superiors ever got word of Geoffrey’s telepathic abilities, and he was not too keen on being experimented upon like the alien that he feared he was becoming.
Unfortunately, the doctor was simply not getting the picture. Right now, all Dr. Cran
gler was concerned with was Delilah and her unborn baby. Geoffrey’s frustrations were mounting. He saw the doctor was about to leave, presumably to get more material for more tests, but Geoffrey needed Lieutenant Dan out of earshot and now. Who knows what kind of vitally important information could be gained from these dreams, and furthermore, who knows if Geoffrey would remember what he’d seen and experienced enough to explain it the very next hour? It was, after all, a completely foreign planet with completely foreign beings. He didn’t understand it himself, how could he draw any parallels that Dr. Crangler would understand. The doctor was heading for the door now, even against Geoffrey’s painfully subdued protests. Then a thought came into Geoffrey’s mind of how to possibly rid the room of the ever-present Lieutenant Dan. Then, at least, maybe he could convince the doctor that they needed to talk somewhere beyond camera’s view.
Perhaps, he could employ his telepathy this one time, just to give the lieutenant general a brief uncomfortable sensation in his brain. Surely, he would need to leave for a moment to see what was going on with him, and that would give Geoffrey all the time he needed with Dr. Crangler. Dr. Crangler was now at the door, gesturing for it to be opened. Geoffrey had to do something, and quick. He opened the ability that he had stifled for the last nine months, but, in his rush, he opened it too quickly, and it was too powerful. Instead of a slight, uncomfortable sensation, Lieutenant Dan could hear Geoffrey’s voice in his brain, filling his skull beyond its capacity, with a power and reverberation that would’ve instantly driven a lesser man to insanity. As is stood, Lieutenant Dan furiously pounded his head. He didn’t know what the hell was going on except that somehow Geoffrey was in his head, and it hurt. Badly. It felt like his brain was being blown up like a balloon with fire instead of air.
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